Yemen and the Red Sea

UKMTO Warning 151-26: tanker reports explosions 60 nautical miles south of Al Mukha

ASSESSMENT
Location
60 nautical miles south of Al Mukha, Yemen. Derived from the offset in UKMTO Warning 151-26; the warning does not publish coordinates.
Importance
Notable

UK Maritime Trade Operations issued Warning 151-26 on 4 October 2026 as a suspicious-activity report, not an attack warning. A company security officer said a tanker had sighted multiple explosions close to the ship about 60 nautical miles south of Al Mukha, Yemen, at 16:50 UTC. The crew were reported safe and no environmental impact was reported. UKMTO said authorities were investigating and told ships to transit with caution. The warning names neither the tanker nor a perpetrator. Xinhua carried the same notice and called the water the Red Sea; the stated offset lies south of Al Mukha, on the Gulf of Aden side of Bab el-Mandeb.

Why it matters

It is the first UKMTO report of explosions near a tanker south of Al Mukha since the Houthis took the port and the Bab el-Mandeb coast in September. The notice does not establish who fired, or that the ship was hit.

Verification: Probable

Evidence: UKMTO Warning 151-26 — suspicious activity 60NM south of Al Mukha, UKMTO WARNING 151-26, British maritime agency reports explosions near vessel off Yemen’s Mocha

The wording is UKMTO Warning 151-26 and the agency’s own post. Xinhua relayed that warning. No claim of responsibility and no damage report were published with it. A suspicious-activity notice is not a confirmed strike.